You can be average and be a low performer, or demonstrate the same performance level and be a high performer. It all depends upon to whom you are comparing yourself.

You really can’t compare yourself to a narrow or small peer group. You have to look to a wider audience. Why? Because the world is changing at a very fast clip, and the average performer today may be below average a year from now. Unless you have a function that doesn’t change, you must stay ahead of the curve to remain ahead of the average mark. [Read the full story …]

The first question that you need to understand: Why would a hiring organization do a group interview when it’s more productive, from your view, to interview one-on-one?

Response – There are several answers, all of them favoring the company. They can:

Squeeze more candidates into a shorter period of time

Have all of the decision-makers see and hear the same thing at the same time

Discuss each candidate and consider the pro’s and con’s and debate their concerns

See how candidates handle a pressure situation with bosses and peers in a group

From the candidate’s perspective there are some pluses and minuses to group interviews:

You get to see the group interact within themselves and who plays what role

You only have to “psych yourself up” once, rather than time after time

The skills are different for interviewing a group versus individuals

The preparation is the same but the dynamics are more group process oriented

Here are some guidelines to help you with group interviews. They may not be exhaustive, but may provide some insights for you to work on:

If you know you will have a group interview, see if you can get a list of the group members and their functions. You’ll work the group differently if they are all finance or marketing or operations people than if it’s a mixed group.

Find out the levels of each member of the group. Are they all “bosses”? Is there a mix of peer functions? Are internal customers parts of the group? How about potential subordinates? How you handle questions will be reflected on the audience.

If you can’t get a list beforehand, either ask for business cards or ask each participant to introduce themselves along with their function. If done correctly, the upper level managers will see you as a smart, experienced candidate. Either set up their business cards on the table before you in the order they are sitting or write their names and function as they introduce themselves.

KEY APPROACH #1: Do your research about the company, their products, supply chain, customers, pricing, competitors, issues of the industry, and so on. Your knowledge will show through in your responses and impress the decision-makers. You’ll probably know more than many in the room, so be careful you don’t become a “show off”. But if you can relate your responses to the business, you’re doing well.

KEY APPROACH #2: Respond to the questions as if you’re making a presentation to a client group as a consultant. Your purpose is to inform and market yourself to a group that will make a decision after all the others have completed their interview. If you come across professionally, giving information and sharing experiences as if you were a product or brand, your peer candidates will pale by comparison.

Lastly, like any good sales person, give concluding remarks to “close the deal”. Tell the group you’re highly interested in the position and hope to become a member of their team.

You passed the telephone screen with flying colors and you nailed the interviews. You’re pretty sure you’ll be offered the job. Then you get a call saying that they chose another candidate, but “thank you very much for your interest”.

WHAT HAPPENED??? Did you do or say something wrong? First of all, calm down. You may have been the perfect candidate, but not gotten the job. Why? Here are a few of the reasons that have nothing to do with you, except you were a pawn.

You were duped – It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. The organization has a problem and wants to seek out people who have solved it somewhere else. They bring in candidates and interview them to find potential solutions. No one is ever hired.

Someone else was more connected – The hiring managers brother-in-law is a candidate, so a screen is set up to hide the favoritism for the offer. You happen to be the foil.

Someone else was better prepared – Another candidate did more research and really understood the issues: Financials, competitors, industry, strategic direction, products, supply chain, customer issues and so on, much better than you.

An internal candidate was always in the wings – The hiring manager always heavily favored an internal candidate. The organization wanted to see whom else was out there. You had a very slim opportunity to demonstrate performance against the insider.

The computer can’t read, only add – In larger organizations, the computer does the initial screen. It counts key words and decides who gets to move forward based on how many times certain key words show up. It cannot tell about quality, only quantity.

You were seen as over or under qualified – A decision was made that you were over or under qualified for the job. You’ll never know who or why, nor will you have the opportunity to state your case. Longer term you could have been superior, but you’ll never know.

For some reason you’re the wrong fit – The organization has a working outline as to who will best fit, and you didn’t match their model: Another mystery of the marketplace.

You could never have matched the real qualifications – The organization was told they could only hire a certain type person, based on criteria unrelated to the job. You’ll never know what or why.

The answer? – You can only do your best to present your results in the most favorable light based on what you know. Sometimes you can ask penetrating questions about the criteria. You may get some good information, then decide whether to pursue the job, or not.
Get insights at: mygreenerfuture.com. Send questions to: Mygreenerfuture1@cox.net

HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH YOUR CAREER? DEPENDS UPON HOW OLD YOU ARE NOW.

From birth to age 70, you have about 25,000+ days to do whatever you plan to do.

If you’re age 18 and graduating from high school, you have 17,000 days until age 65.

If you’re a college graduate and 44 years old, you are mid-way through your career and have about 8,000 days left to make your mark. What are you planning to do about it over the 8,000+ mornings you have left to start a new day?

Do these sound like strange numbers and questions? Not if you want to make a difference!

When you think about it, being halfway through your career is a real milestone. You’ve spent time going to school, achieved diplomas or degrees, started a career, and moved through initial jobs into some kind of mid-way point. The next few decisions will be critical to where you go from there. They will determine whether you achieve your goals or not.

If you’re older than age 21 but not yet to 44, you have time to reconsider where you are versus where you want to be. The next step needs to be validated and designed carefully.

If you’re between 44 but not yet 55, you still have time to accelerate your career to the highest level attainable. You should be near your ultimate career goal by the time you’re in your early 50’s. You’re at your peak performance and near the top of your game.

If you’re over 55, you’re on cruise control as you help those under you gain the experiences they will need. That is, unless fate has intervened and stops your progress.

No matter where you are, you’ll need a plan to determine where you want to be, and by when. Assess what you need to do to arrive at your destination at the time you desire. Put together the strategies to accomplish your goals. Build a Career Map.

Most times, plans and strategies work out differently in reality than they look on paper. So you need contingency plans or alternatives that will get you back on track or come closer to your goal.

Whatever your situation, consider talking with a professional coach. They can help you plan your strategies at the beginning of your career, modify your strategies toward the middle, or help you optimize what you want to achieve toward the end of your career.

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There seems to be a major disconnect between what senior managers think is the cause of employees leaving for another company, and the real reason why employees quit. A recent Paycor report identified this disconnect and why employees “fire” their companies.

Executives tend to rationalize why employee’s leave for another job is based on their own prior experiences. They view it as a career-building move. While this may be true in some cases, it’s not the major reason, at least not in today’s workforce. Senior management views the reasons that employees leave their company for another job:

To increase their compensation

To advance their career to the next level

The desire to add responsibilities and perform at a higher level

That may be partially true, but it’s not the main drivers as expressed by employees themselves. Employees describe their reasons for leaving their job for very different reasons:

To get away from a bad boss and find a mentor

To become recognized and rewarded as a valued contributor

To get a better balance of life between the professional and personal, and avoid “burnout”

A senior manager’s perspective may view high turnover as having nothing to do with the lack of management skills of the people below them. In other words, “We can’t be that bad for employees wanting to escape to another organization”.

Some executives may not understand the impact and cost of turnover. Or if they do, may not have the numbers to show them that turnover is very expensive. If an average employee makes $40,000 a year, and a corporation has 1,000 of them, with a turnover rate of 22%, and the average cost of a replacement is $15,000 (including recruitment, supervisors’ time, training time to get up to speed, lost productivity, the strain on employees who remain to take up the slack, and so on), then the total cost of turnover is at least $3.3 million, and that’s conservative. Turnover of the most talented and productive employees is not only expensive, but also will significantly affect the results of the business. A turnover at higher levels of mid-management may be closer to $50,000 to $200,000 per change, including relocations.

So, what should be done?

Management should track, report and add up the cost of turnover, both voluntary and involuntary, including indirect costs.

Identify the root causes of turnover and the areas where high turnover is prevalent. Something is wrong when a supervisor continues to turn over employees consistently.

Trend turnover by department, company and comparable to competitors or the industry. How out-of-norm are you and for what reason? Sometimes it’s a function (like nurses in a healthcare organization) or another supply/demand issue.

Ask yourself, “Do we have a turnover problem, and if so, what’s the cause?” There is another turnover problem, and that’s when turnover is not high enough. In other words, the company is retaining unproductive employees. It’s called “deadwood”. But that’s for another time.

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Bill Kaufmann

Bill is a business professional with over 40 years working for some of the biggest and brightest corporations in the United States. Now he has turned his attention towards helping others achieve similar heights in their own professional careers through his blog and personal coaching business.

Interested in utilizing Bill as a personal coach? Learn more by emailing him directly at wkaufmann44@gmail.com